Walsh-Jennings, Pavlik Win Manhattan Beach Open

Kerri Walsh-Jennings and Whitney Pavlik defeated Brooke Sweat and Jennifer Fopma to win the women's final in the Manhattan Beach Open. The winning duo will be immortalized on the Manhattan Beach Pier next summer with a plaque to commemorate their victory.

Walsh-Jennings, a Manhattan Beach resident won with Pavlik Sunday 20-22, 17-21 in two hard-fought matches Sweat and Fopma just couldn't quite hit full stride in. Earlier, Sweat beat the tournament's No. 1 seed and silver medalists in the Beijing Olympics Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 23-21, 21-17.

The championship for Welsh-Jennings and Pavlik comes on the heels of a fifth place finish a week ago in Salt Lake City in the AVP’s first tour event of the year. There, Walsh-Jennings and Pavlik lost to Fopma and Sweat and Jen Kessy and April Ross, who will be Walsh-Jennings' partner in a quest for a fourth Olympics gold medal.